Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1894 — ON THE SEA ISLANDS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ON THE SEA ISLANDS.

QUAINT INHABITANTS OF A LITTLE KNOWN REGION. Gentle and Patient Negroes Whose Lives Are Passed In Raising Crops of Cotton— Where a Great Hnrrleane Wrought Desolation—3,ooo Human Beings Perished. Produre Flue Cotton. The full story of the horrors suffered last summer from the hurricane which desolated tho islands along our southern Atlantic coast will never probably be fully told. The newspapers were full at that time with accounts of the misery of the people and the utter desolation wrought. At least 2,000 human beings lost their lives, 1,000 perished subsequently from exposure and disease, and between 20,000 and 30,000 were left homeless and helpless. In Scribner’s Magazine Joel Chandler Harris, who has been in the South visiting the scene of the disaster, gives an interesting account of the present condition of the islands, and also tells something about the people who live on them. It. is from this

article that the following account is summarized: The Sea Islands, as these are called, cover a good deal of territory altogether, for they reach down the whole coast from Charleston to Savannah. Those lying between Savannah and Port Royal are not so large, either in area or population, as those which extend from Port Royal to Charleston. All lie very near one another, separated by narrow lagoons. They are little known and rarely visited by the white people, and negroes form the bulk of the population. These are negroes of a rather peculiar kind. They are of the slave type of the African; their ancestors were brought over from Africa, where, as slaves for generations, they were engaged in raising cattle and rude forms of agriculture. These traits which excited the rapacity of the slave-trader still manifest themselves in the negroes of the Sea islands in a way that is both attractive and touching. They are gentle, unobtrusive and friendly; they are patient and uncomplaining. The Cotton Growth. The Sea Islands produce the finest and highest priced cotton in the world and the land on which it is grown recuperates and enriches itself from year to year. This cotton enters into the manufacture of the finest goods and is worth 25 cents a pound when carelessly prepared, (10 cents when carefully gathered. These, by the way, are high prices for cotton and many of the negroes, therefore,

are comparatively well to-do and own from ten to fifty acres of land, but the majority, of course, are poor and thriftless. The cotton planters do not renew their soli as often as they should, and the consequence is that the cotton has lately deteriorated somewhat in quality. It is for this reason that this cotton stytnjs some chance of being crowded from the market by importations from Egypt. In that country cotton nearlyas good is raised and much more cheaply.

Last year $5,000,000 worth of it was imported into the United States. Mr. Harris cannot speak in terms sufficiently high of the relief work done by Miss Clara Barton and the Red Cross Society for the people of the Sea Islands. Tirelessly, with unremitting zeal the members of the society work, dealing out food and provisions—a peck of grits and a pound of pork which are the rations for a family of six. These are carried home by the natives from the

relief station in their curious little bull sulkies. The Red Cross people are much hampered in their good work by lack of funds, but they do everything that is possible toward ameliorating the condition of the unfortunate natives.

A STORM-WRECKED MANSION ON ST. HELENA.

AN ISLAND HOME.

TRAVELING ON THE SEA ISLANDS.